Football Prep Preview Teams: Top 10 countdown

Perennially, the top four teams in prep football are usually a litany of the same powerful programs.

The
lower six? There’s a little more of a shuffle there from week to week.
Even this weekend, a surprise here and there had this Star-Advertiser
Football Preseason Top 10 rebuilding a house of cards.

Can anything really take root after just one week of scrimmages and one nonconference game? Maybe.

Castle’s
convincing win over Radford and Kapolei’s stunning loss to Pearl City
caused a rift in the zone. Here’s a look at the lower part of the Top
10:

10. Castle

The
Knights had a lethal combination of Jaymason Lee and Shaydon Kehano
last season. With Garrett Paredes patrolling Castle’s defense, it was
still a dogfight just to stay above water as the Knights finished 6-5,
including a close playoff loss to Farrington.

Paredes
and Kehano graduated, and now the pressure is on a new class of Knights
to keep the winning tradition alive. Lee, who passed for 2,293 yards
and 29 touchdowns, doesn’t have a gamebreaker like Kehano now. However,
coach Nelson Maeda is highly confident in the new crew of slotbacks and
wideouts. If they play as well as expected, the run-and-shoot offense
might become harder to stop.

9. Mililani

With a former defensive
coordinator at the helm in Rod York, what are the chances that the
Trojans get into high-scoring shootouts this fall? Slim? None?

Pretty
good, actually. York sees the potential of the offensive unit with
Trent McKinney at the controls and has a lot of trust, so much so that
he sacrificed size on defense to leave most of it on the offensive line.
The defense remains smaller and quicker, as it was last season with
Darnell Arceneaux as head coach. Arceneaux has since departed for his
alma mater, Saint Louis.

McKinney (1,872 passing
yards, 19 TDs) could have more time in the pocket now, and with former
Saint Louis quarterback Bobby George in-house as the new offensive
coordinator, that could mean jackpot nights for receivers Hassan
Richardson and Ervan Jean-Pierre.

8. Waianae

At
this point, the Seariders are in the process of evaluating personnel,
but one thing is certain: The Wing T is in full swing behind a very
cohesive offensive line.

Though coach Danny
Matsumoto won’t single out a single lineman, he’s pleased with their
work as a unit after scrimmages with Pearl City and ‘Iolani.

With
playmaker Puletua Wilson back at quarterback, the Seariders have opted
to be less predictable by using more shotgun/four-receiver sets. Several
positions, however, are filled with talented, somewhat inexperienced
newcomers.

That makes Waianae, which went 5-4 last year, a potential sleeper in the Oahu Interscholastic Association race.

7. Leilehua

LAM
— Life after (Andrew) Manley — is a surreal place to be for Mules
fans. Manley’s sterling late-season state-title run as a sophomore
quarterback was followed by two more stellar seasons as the focal point
of their hybrid pass-heavy offense.

So what do
the Mules do for an encore after last year’s 9-4 mark? Even before
Manley, they had elements of various passing juggernauts when Bryant
Moniz was in the pocket. In between stints by the two prolific passers,
Leilehua has shown a penchant for the option attack.

Even
if much of the new talent is unproven, the Mules have a coaching staff
led by Nolan Tokuda that has proven its mettle, and that makes a major
difference moving forward.

6. ‘Iolani

The
four-time Division II state champion Raiders are among the smallest of
the powerhouse squads in size and numbers, but that hasn’t stopped them
from rocking Goliaths. A methodical, efficient no-huddle run-and-shoot
offense has been a major weapon.

So what happens
when a key to that success, like quarterback Jarrett Arakawa,
graduates? The Raiders don’t panic, certainly. In fact, three rising
slingers are in competition for the starting job, including Jake Hannum,
last year’s backup.

They have plenty of quality
targets, including Kevin Barayuga (57 receptions, 13 touchdowns) and
Trevyn Tulonghari (77 catches, 1,049 yards, 10 scores).

Coach
Wendell Look is known for masterful personnel decisions, but he has
also become a fine recruiter of assistant coaches. Joel Lane has long
been a superb quarterbacks coach, but now Look has ex-Saint Louis coach
Delbert Tengan in the fold as defensive coordinator.

5. Farrington

The Governors keep churning out fantastic tailbacks
and replacing them ably as they graduate. This time, after losing Harry
Tuimaseve, they’re serving up sophomore Tyler Taumua.

“He’s
got a very unique running style,” coach Randall Okimoto said. “He has
some power like Harry and Apelu (So’oalo), but he does have shiftiness
like Hercules (Sula).”

The Govs have three sophomores on the O-line, but quarterback Jared Hakuole will bring senior savvy.

Defensively, linebackers Justin Vele, Lancelot Williams and Charles Tauefa anchor one of the state’s top run-stopping units.

With five sophomores in the starting lineup, Farrington will grow up quickly in the rough OIA Red East.

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PREP PREVIEW

The Star-Advertiser kicked off the high school
football season with unprecedented coverage, featuring top players at
each position and counting down to the top teams in the state. See below
for past and upcoming stories.

AUG. 8 / SUNDAY
Defensive Linemen

AUG. 9 / MONDAY
Linebackers

AUG. 10 / TUESDAY
Defensive Backs

AUG. 11 / WEDNESDAY
Offensive Linemen

AUG. 12 / THURSDAY
Receivers

AUG. 13 / FRIDAY
Running Backs

AUG. 14 / SATURDAY
Quarterbacks

AUG. 15 / SUNDAY
Team Nos. 5-10

AUG. 16 / MONDAY
Team No. 4 Punahou

AUG. 17 / TUESDAY
Team No. 3 Saint Louis

AUG. 18 / WEDNESDAY
Team No. 2 Kamehameha

AUG. 19 / FRIDAY
Team No. 1 Kahuku